About Parametric Drawing and Constraints

Parametric drawing is a technology that is used for designing with constraints, which are associations and restrictions applied to 2D geometry.

There are two general types of constraints:

The following illustration displays geometric and dimensional constraints using the default format and visibility.

A cursor badge displays when you move the cursor over an object that has constraints applied to it.

In the design phase of a project, constraints provide a way to enforce requirements when experimenting with different designs or when making changes. Changes made to objects can adjust other objects automatically, and restrict changes to distance and angle values.

With constraints, you can

Best practice: It is recommended that you first apply geometric constraints to determine the shape of a design, and then apply dimensional constraints to determine the size of objects in a design.

Designing with Constraints

When you work with constraints, a drawing will be in one of three states:

Thus, there are two general methods for designing with constraints:

The method that you choose depends on your design practices and the requirements of your discipline.

Note: The program prevents you from applying any constraints that result in an overconstrained condition.

Use Constraints with Blocks and Xrefs

You can apply constraints between

When you apply constraints to block references, the objects contained within the block are automatically available for selection. You do not need to press Ctrl for subobject selection. Adding constraints to a block reference can cause it to move or rotate as a result.

Note: Applying constraints to dynamic blocks suppresses the display of their dynamic grips. You can still change the values in a dynamic block using the Properties palette, but to redisplay the dynamic grips, the constraints must first be removed from the dynamic block.

Constraints can be used in block definitions, resulting in dynamic blocks. You can control the size and shape of dynamic blocks directly from within the drawing. For more information, see Add Constraints to Dynamic Blocks.

Remove or Relax Constraints

There are two ways to cancel the effects of constraints when you need to make design changes:

Relaxed constraints are not maintained during editing. Constraints are restored automatically if possible when the editing process is complete. Constraints that are no longer valid are removed.

Note: The DELCONSTRAINT command deletes all geometric and dimensional constraints from selected objects.